Searches for family members in the census can be very rewarding but sometimes equally frustrating experience. I don’t think I will ever find “my” John Davies in the1871 census, although he was around in 1861 and 1881. Whether he was just down the pub that night I will never know! However, I have managed to find the Majority of family members though the enumerators and/or records haven’t always made this easy.
In case it is of use to anyone else, below are some of the lessons I have learnt along the way. If anyone else has any of their own anecdotes or advise please feel free to add to this thread.
First NamesThe enumerators were very good at abbreviating first names and I have seen Thos for Thomas, Dd for David, Wm for William and Jno for John (other examples are given here:
http://www.familyhistory.uk.com/content/view/515/29/). However even if full names are given don’t always assume the spelling is right. For example I have an Esther who on her death certificate is listed as Hester. Plus don’t always assume first names are used, there seems to be a bit of a tradition in my family of using a persons first name just as an “homage” to previous relatives e.g. my grandfather William Gladney Davies only appears as Gladney in the census.
SurnamesVariations come thick and fast here. Even a basic surname such as Davies I have seen as Davis, Daves and David. Vowels regularly change, therefore Edmunds alternate with Edmonds. Also if a surname has an s on the end or a double letter ending e.g. Basett, try searching without the s or with a singular letter ending as some web sites will not pick up these variations as part of their search. Complete mis-transcriptions also occur therefore Bowen has been Bowlu and Edmunds, Edwards. Although not as common as with first names, abbreviations of surnames also occur, so in 1841 “my” Henry Williams is listed as Henery Wm.
OccupationsAn “official” list of some of the abbreviations used to described occupations can be found here
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/hitch/gendocs/abbrcen.html , but I have come across Cop ^ m for Copper man, Carp
n for Carpenter, Dressm for Dressmaker and Shoem for Shoemaker.
AddressesThese seem to have presented a particular challenge to enumerators (I think because some may have been English and therefore unfamiliar with the spelling and/or pronunciation). Variations come thick and fast, therefore from various sources the same address was known as Crygland, Cryglont, Cruylont, Cryglen, Gruglon and Eriglond! Plus in 1881 I thought my Griffiths family had move to a new address called “Little Vale” until I realised this was the English translation of their address “Dyffryn Bach”.
AgesAge, particularly in the 1841 census can be misleading as the age of anyone over 15 was supposed to be rounded down to the nearest 5 e.g. 69 became 65. (Note they didn’t always do this rounding). We all also probably have examples of relatives in the Census becoming younger as they got older! There may also be just transcription errors in the data collated by sites from the census e.g. I have a John Thomas who is clearly 28 in the census who is stated as age 38 in the Ancestry “summary” sheet.
I hope the above if of use to someone and as I said please feel free to add any extra advice/comments to this thread.
